Perkins County voters to decide local races, hospital levy question; Early voting begins Oct. 5
BY SAMANTHA GOFF
GRANT TRIBUNE-SENTINEL
Perkins County voters will choose federal, state and local officeholders and decide whether to continue additional property tax authority for the Perkins County Hospital District in the Nov. 3 general election.
The ballot includes races for Grant mayor, school boards and village trustees, along with county offices, legislative seats and other district positions, according to the election notice certified by Perkins County Clerk James D. Brueggeman.
Not every race will appear on every ballot. A voter’s residence determines which city, village, school and other district contests that voter is eligible to participate in.
Mail ballots began going out Sept. 28 to voters who requested them. Early voting at the Perkins County Clerk’s Office begins Oct. 5.
Hospital levy question
Although the hospital board race was decided in May and will not appear on the general election ballot, voters will consider a separate question concerning the Perkins County Hospital District’s taxing authority.
The proposal would continue authorization for the district to levy a property tax of no more than 3.5 cents per $100 of taxable valuation above the limits prescribed by law through fiscal year 2032-33. The revenue would support general operations.
A vote for the proposal would continue that authority. A vote against it would not continue the additional taxing authority.
Grant and village races
Grant voters will choose between Samuel R. Sims and Marlin Wendell for mayor. Voters may select one candidate.
Andrea L. Brueggeman and Tierney L. Petersen are listed for Grant City Council. Voters may select up to two candidates.
In Elsie, Victor M. Perez and Douglas J. Curtis are candidates for the village board of trustees. Voters may select up to two.
Madrid voters may select up to two village board candidates from Kamryn Loy, Jennifer Baumgartner and Jennifer Kier.
In Venango, Troy Grothman and Christina Farnsworth are listed for the village board of trustees. Voters may select up to three.
School board candidates
Five candidates are listed for the Perkins County Schools Board of Education: Cameron Sis, Mitch Bottom, Chris Fryzek, Tori Gengenbach and Traci Lee. Voters may select up to three.
The county election notice also includes school board races for other districts serving Perkins County residents. Voters in each district may select up to three candidates.
Hayes Center Public Schools District 079 candidates are Andrea Richards, Nick Cox and Dexter L. Lacey.
Ogallala School District No. 1 candidates are Doug Davis, Andrew L. Cole, Tania Perlinger and Travis Theiler.
Paxton School District No. 6 candidates are Doug Wasserman, Joshua F. Dack and Ann Klein.
South Platte School District 95 candidates are Tim Van Zee, Adam Hayward, Joshua Anderson, Timothy Hill, Amanda Mathis and William Franken.
Wallace school board candidates are Seth C. Hasenauer, DoAnn McDonald, Dakota J. Henderson, Quenton Smith and Ryan Griffiths.
County offices
The notice lists one candidate for each county office on the ballot. All are Republicans, and voters may select one candidate in each applicable race.
Candidates are Regina J. Berry for assessor, Richard H. Roberts for county attorney, James D. Brueggeman for county clerk, Jeffrey Scott Miller for sheriff and Julie A. Sestak for treasurer.
Mark W. Bottom is listed for county commissioner in District 2, and Steven Tucker is listed for county commissioner in District 3. Those races will appear on ballots for voters residing in the respective commissioner districts.
Legislative and district offices
The nonpartisan legislative races listed in the notice are Mike Jacobson and Shaylee S. Scranton in District 42, and Teresa Ibach in District 44. Voters may select one candidate in their applicable district.
Elizabeth Tegtmeier is the listed candidate for State Board of Education District 7.
Tyler S. Pribbeno is listed for the Mid-Plains Community College Board of Governors in District 2.
Upper Republican Natural Resources District board candidates are Thomas Arterburn in Subdistrict 4, Tyler Turner in Subdistrict 8, Jay Lee in Subdistrict 10 and Brock Stromberger for the at-large seat.
Allison Sandman is listed for Educational Service Unit No. 15, District 3, and Judy Seger is listed for Educational Service Unit No. 16, District 9.
Voters may select one candidate in each applicable contest.
Federal races
Five candidates are listed for a six-year term in the U.S. Senate: Republican Pete Ricketts, Mike Marvin of Legal Marijuana NOW, Robin Richards of Nebraska Working People, Chuck Conboy of America First and petition candidate Dan Osborn.
For a two-year term representing Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District, candidates are Republican Adrian Smith, Democrat Becky Kelly Stille, David J. Else of Legal Marijuana NOW, Macey Budke of Nebraska Working People and petition candidate Mark Cohen.
Voters may select one candidate in each race.
State offices
Four governor and lieutenant governor tickets are listed: Republicans Jim Pillen and Joe Kelly; Democrats Lynne Walz and Ben Steffen; Rick Beard and Keenya Barnes of Legal Marijuana NOW; and Brett Lindstrom and Michael Picard of America First. Voters may select one ticket.
Secretary of state candidates are Republican Scott Petersen, Democrat Sarah J. Slattery, Paul Rumbaugh of Nebraska Working People and Bob Krist of America First.
State treasurer candidates are Republican Joey Spellerberg and Democrat Daniel Ebers.
Attorney general candidates are Republican Mike Hilgers and Democrat Jocelyn Brasher.
Auditor of public accounts candidates are Republican Mike Foley and John Knight of America First.
Voters may select one candidate in each office.
Judicial retention
Voters will also answer yes-or-no questions on whether five judges should remain in office for six-year terms.
The judges listed are Thomas E. Stine and Dirk V. Block of the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court; Cindy Volkmer and Patrick M. Heng of the District Court in District 11; and Tanya Roberts-Connick of the County Court in District 11.
These are retention questions rather than races between opposing candidates.
The county notice does not identify specific statewide constitutional amendments, initiatives or referendums. It states that the secretary of state will publish the title and text of any such proposals once a week for three consecutive weeks before the election. Write-in lines will be provided where allowed.
Registration and voting deadlines
Mail-in voter registration forms must be postmarked by Oct. 16 to be accepted.
The final voter registration deadline before the general election is 5 p.m. Oct. 23. The courthouse will remain open until that deadline to accommodate registrations.
Voters seeking a mail ballot may obtain a request form by contacting the Perkins County Clerk’s Office.
Completed mail ballots must be returned to the clerk’s office or placed in the drop box at the courthouse’s back door by 7 p.m. Nov. 3.
Election Day voting will take place at the Perkins County Fairgrounds, where polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mountain time Nov. 3.
Editor’s note: Last week’s Tribune mistakenly included candidate previews for the hospital board race, which was decided in May. Lori Day joined the board following that election. No hospital board race will appear on the November ballot; the hospital district tax question described above is a separate matter. The Tribune regrets the error.